Sick as a (Baby) Dragon
by StBridget
Summary: Or, Steve's Continuing Adventures in Dragon-er, Baby-sitting. When Matt gets ill at daycare, Steve has to take care of him. AU Dragon!Danny verse. McDanno established.


**Hawaii Five-0 is property of CBS and its creators.  
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 **A/N: This ficlet is the bastard child of Tkeyla's Full-on Daddy Duty from her Bulletproof Baby Blankets story and my own Sick as a Dragon from the Dragon!Danny verse. Hope you enjoy!**

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Steve McGarrett answered the phone on the first ring when he saw the number of his son Matt's daycare on the display. "Commander McGarrett."

"Commander? This is Leah from Little Puffers Daycare. I'm calling about Matt."

Steve tried to stem his rising panic. "Is he okay? Did he get in a fight? What's wrong?"

"He's fine," Leah assured him. "No fights. But he isn't feeling well, and we need you to come get him."

"I'll be right there," Steve promised. He hung up and immediately dialed his partner, husband, and soulmate, Danny Williams.

"Hey, babe, what's up?" Danny answered.

"Matt's sick. I'm going to go pick him up," Steve responded.

"Okay. We're just finishing searching the suspect's house. I'll be home as soon as I can," Danny said.

"Okay. I'll call you if I need anything. Bye."

"Bye, babe." With that, Danny hung up.

Steve grabbed his keys. Danny had the Camaro, but fortunately he'd driven the Silverado to work as well. He drove as fast as he could to the daycare. He wanted to turn on the lights and siren, but he resisted the temptation. He knew if it was really bad, Leah would have told him.

He rushed into the building and stopped at the reception desk. "Commander McGarrett, here for Matt. I'm told he's sick," he told the woman at the desk—Leah he assumed.

"Go right back, they're expecting you," she said. "He's in the playroom."

He rushed into the playroom. "Where's Matt?" he demanded.

Mia, one of the aides, pointed to what looked like a pile of blankets in the corner. "He's there. I'm afraid he shifted. We tried to stop him, but it was just too much."

"Okay, thanks," Steve said, glad they'd chosen a dragon daycare. The daycare encouraged the children to stay in human form so they'd be ready to enter kindergarten, but the kids hadn't mastered control yet, and sometimes they couldn't help it. Like when they were sick.

Steve approached the pile of blankets. As he got closer, he could see a purple snout and watery blue eyes. "Hey, buddy, how're you doing?"

The dragon sniffled, snot dripping from his snout. He projected an air of utter misery.

Steve stroked him soothingly. "It's okay, buddy, you'll feel better soon." He took stock. Matt was shivering, but his scales dripped with sweat. Their normal deep purple was sickly and grayish. Steve was hit with a wave of nausea. He tried to step back, but he couldn't dodge the stream of vomit that burst from Matt like some disgusting bout of flame. Steve was grateful he was just wearing cargoes and a t-shirt and not a dress shirt and slacks like Danny usually did. He was sure he would never hear the end of it if that happened to Danny. "Is this the first time he's thrown up?" Steve asked Mia.

She shook her head. "No, it's the third, I think. It started right after lunch. We called you as soon as he threw up the first time."

"Okay, I'll get him home and see that he gets some rest. Thanks for letting me know." Mia nodded in acknowledgement, and Steve turned his attention to Matt. "Buddy, I need you to shift for me, can you do that?"

Matt mewled. Steve could feel him make the effort to shift, but he just shimmered before settling back into dragon form. "Okay, guess I'll have to carry you like this." Steve awkwardly wrapped his arms around Matt and lifted him. He was grateful Matt was built like Danny, slender and on the small side. At two he was only six feet long and four high, and just under 200 pounds. Steve could lift him, barely, but it was too awkward for Danny. Once again, Steve was grateful he'd gotten the call and not Danny.

Steve carefully carried Matt out to the truck, Mia following with the blanket. Steve paused when he reached the Silverado. Matt was too big for the backseat. Steve thought for a minute, then carefully lowered the baby dragon into the bed of the truck, covering him completely with the blanket. "Stay there, buddy, okay?" Steve told him. Matt just shivered and huddled deeper under the blanket. Maybe it was a good thing Danny had the Camaro.

Steve thanked Mia for her help and carefully drove home, keeping an eye on the truck bed in the rear view mirror. At one point Matt's head popped up, and he hung it over the side, spewing large quantities of vomit on the cars in the next lane. Steve just hoped none of them looked too closely at the baby purple dragon in his truck. With any luck, they'd think it was a dog. He sent soothing vibes to Matt, picturing him under the blanket, and Matt lay down again.

Steve would have liked to stop at the drug store for some children's flu medicine, but he couldn't risk it with Matt in the bed of the truck. He was pretty sure Matt was too sick to go anywhere, but he didn't want anybody to peer in and see him, or for Matt to stick his head up again. Steve would just have to hope they had something at home.

When they got home, Steve lifted Matt out of the truck and placed him on the ground. "Think you can get into the house under your own power, buddy?" Matt just mewled and threw up on Steve's shoes, which he'd missed the first time. "I'll take that as a no."

He carried Matt into the house and settled him on the bed in the master bedroom. Steve knew Matt would want to be close to his fathers, and he was pretty sure Danny would insist on having him close by. To be honest, Steve wanted Matt close by, too. Matt immediately burrowed under the covers, pulling them loose from the foot of the bed and sticking his snout out the foot and his tail out the head.

Steve scritched his eye ridges. "You rest, buddy. I'm going to clean up and see about getting you some medicine." Matt just sniffled and mewled.

After Steve showered and changed into sweats and a SEALs t-shirt, he rummaged in the medicine cabinet and managed to unearth some children's flu medicine. He carefully measured out a dose and carried the cup to Matt. "Here you go, buddy, this'll make you feel better."

Matt eyed the cup dubiously, then reached out and snatched it, crunching down and swallowing cup and all. "We really need to work on this habit of yours," Steve told him. "You can't keep crunching bottles and dosage cups. It's not good for you." Matt just burped in response.

Steve tucked the covers more comfortably around the baby dragon. "Comfy, buddy?" Matt mewled and sent Steve a mental image. "Gotcha." Steve went into Matt's room and found the stuffed purple dragon he and Danny had found. It was Matt's favorite. Steve tucked it in with Matt and kissed him on the nose, ignoring the sour smell of vomit. "Go to sleep now."

Matt snuffled sleepily in agreement and settled down, Steve sitting next to him on the bed with a book, stroking his back soothingly. Parenthood had its ups and downs, and this was definitely one of the worse days, but Steve wouldn't trade it for the world.

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A/N: I thought about trying to make this with Danny, but it had already mostly formed with Steve, and I just couldn't translate it. Danny will get his turn, though. He's just so confident I think he deserves to be taken down a peg or two, don't you? ;)


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